


Little Brother

by Androids_in_Metropolis



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: AU, Abuse, Angst, Cassidy is a sweet kid and I felt so bad for him so I wrote this, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Childhood Trauma, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, also I don't like dick, au cassidy ending, whole story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 21:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5221259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Androids_in_Metropolis/pseuds/Androids_in_Metropolis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassidy is one of the suspects in the mystery of the bus crash; He's quiet, awkward, not particularly popular...a perfect killer, which would also likely mean he is Veronica's rapist...The only problem? He didn't do it. </p><p>If he didn't do it though, who did?</p><p>-------</p><p>An AU ending for Cassidy. The ages, and order of events have also been altered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Brother

**Author's Note:**

> A little Cassidy fic

Veronica didn’t believe that Cassidy was the murderer, the rapist, or anything much for that matter...he was a sweet, confused, damaged kid. He was maybe a little depressed, but not homicidal. 

The Casablancas family and the media were of no help to the investigation, mixing in their own rumours and making life generally difficult for Cassidy and the investigators alike. It just didn’t feel right to Veronica; why was Dick so intent on spreading rumours about his little brother? Why wasn’t his family of any help at all? She couldn’t believe that the quiet, mild mannered, somewhat neurotic Cassidy would be able to do such a thing as orchestrate the bus crash or rape her. 

One of the major problems with the theory that he was the one with the roofies would be that he had absolutely no connections to anyone excepting Dick who would be able to get him the meds. Another one was that she had a hunch that Cassidy wasn’t exactly straight...why would he go to the trouble of raping her if he didn’t even like it? 

The bus crash was another matter completely; A lot of his friends were on the bus at the time of the crash, and he had been in shock when news of the crash had come through. It’s hard to fake a grade A shock when you have doctors there judging your reaction on all sides. Why would he kill them? After the bus crash he hadn’t been in school for days, he hadn’t been at home...Veronica could vouch for him there because he was with her, crying on her shoulder. 

Another hitch in the theory that he was the terrorist was that he knew nill about explosives...She had asked him a thousand trick questions over the past few weeks, and either he was really, really good, or he didn’t know anything about homemade bombs. She was inclined to believe the latter statement. 

Now the only problem was finding the real killer/rapist (she was assuming they were the same person, due to the fact that her name was mixed into the whole scenario). Maybe someone she knew? Maybe someone who had it out for Cassidy? 

Her suspects list was short (Cassidy didn’t have many enemies, and she knew just about everyone). It read as follows; Dick Casablancas, Kendall Casablancas, Liam Fitzpatrick. 

Her father asked her why Dick was on the list at all, and she was forced to explain the strained (to say the least) relationship between the Casablancas boys. Dick was their father favourite, though he didn’t much care. He was constantly after Cassidy, and his friends, sometimes even going so far as to inflict bodily harm on them. He was always trying to find ways to make Cassady more nervous, or make him feel lesser. 

Also, lately, Dick seemed to have come a little unhinged; Even Logan was noticing. Since the bus crash, in fact. He seemed to have lost a little, sometimes being caught mumbling to himself in the halls, or refusing to leave his room stating simply ‘she knows it was me, she knows.’ Knowing Dick, that sentence could mean anything from sex to death. 

Also, she honestly wouldn’t put it by him to have raped her and refused to tell her. He was like that...woman’s safety just wasn’t his highest priority...actually, safety in general was in fact not his priority. 

Keith found himself agreeing with her reasons, saying he’ll look into it. He had half the police force backing him, anyway. They’d get to the bottom of this...they’d figure out what happened to the bus, and though he didn’t know about the rape, she was fairly sure he would know by the end of the ordeal. 

“Thanks, dad,” she whispered, hugging him close to her. Every single day she was reminded how fast family could be snatched from you. How fast you could lose everything. 

\--------------------------

Veronica sat with Cassidy at lunch now; He looked so lonely. Dick had stopped letting him tag along with him wherever he went, and now Cassidy was stuck with loads of free time and for some reason Veronica felt compelled to help him fill it. It was something about how sweet he was...how sad it was that he had somehow gotten caught up in the mess that Neptune had become simply because he was an 09er and because he had been in the wrong place, with the wrong people, at the wrong time. 

“So, how’re you?” Veronica asked Cassidy, dropping her lunch tray onto the table across from the sullen teen. He was poking at a tater tot, an open textbook spread in front of him. He looked up when Veronica sat down, though she wasn’t sure he’d heard her question. She settled for smiling and digging into her hamburger, trying to keep it light. 

Cassidy gave her a weak smile, just as he was opening his mouth to speak a ball of wadded up paper came sailing towards him, hitting him squarely in the back of the head. He whimpered, hunching forward, his hands darting towards the place of impact. His face was twisted in pain. 

‘That’s odd,’ thought Veronica, getting up and going around to retrieve the surprisingly heavy ball. Opening it she found it was a note, a small though heavy rock carefully waded inside. The note read, ‘Killer. You raped Veronica Mars. Rot in jail.’ The words sent shivers down her spine, but she knew better...Cassidy hadn’t raped her. Everyone had vouched for him, and she was inclined to believe the masses in this case as she had been too out of it at the time to really be a reliable source. 

She looked around, trying to spot who had thrown it...she had some questions and a death glare just waiting for them. Her eyes landed on the 09er table, where there was quite a lot of quieted laughter going around, specifically from a certain Dick Casablancas direction. 

Dick didn’t even have the decency to look abashed as Veronica tossed the note onto the table in front of him, hands on hips.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She demanded, fire in her eyes. She couldn’t believe Dick could be so cruel...Even if he had done it, Cassidy was his baby brother. Isn’t there something to be said for family? Dick was a cruel, sad excuse for a human and she couldn’t believe Logan could stand him (not that Logan had the highest standards period). 

“What? Just playing around with my baby bro,” Dick said, false innocence playing on his face. He shrugged, “Why do you care about Beaver anyway?” he asked, looking genuinely curious now, as if he couldn’t fathom anyone caring for Cassidy. 

Veronica resisted the urge to punch the dumb blond in the face, clenching her fists at her sides and counting to ten inside her head. She couldn’t believe Dick...was this full heady and stupid. How could he be this mean?

“Well, stop playing with him!” she hissed, her voice low and dangerous. She looked over at Logan, trying to see what his involvement was and how angry she should be at him. To her relief he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, almost like he wished Dick would just back off. “And I care about Cassidy because he’s just a kid and no one else seems to give a fuck.” With that she turned on her heel, heading back to her table with Cassidy. She couldn’t believe they lived in the same house...how awful would that be?

Mac was sitting next to Cassidy now, an arm around his shoulders. She had a little brother about his age, and Veronica was glad to know that she treated Cassidy just like her brother. She sat down across from them, a smile on her face. 

“You okay, Cas?” she asked him, referring to the knock he had taken to the head. He nodded, though he looked more hurt than he was letting on. “Okay, that’s good because I don’t want to have to take you to the hospital instead of the special plans I have,” she said, trying to sound secretive and excited at the same time. She was busy texting her father underneath the table as she spoke, laying plans. 

‘Dad; Get a warrant, search Dick’s things. The whole Casablancas house if you have to. The kid is evil, there is no way it was Cassidy. Cassidy moving in with me, even if I have to get own house to do it (please don’t make me do that, I don’t have the money lol). Legal work going through now, but gotta get Cas out of house.’ 

A reply came through in minutes as Mac was busy lightly teasing Cassidy, pulling on one of his messy brown curls before planting a kiss on his forehead. Veronica smiled; Cassidy looked so normal right then. Like just some put upon little brother half embarrassed and half happy to have a sister that would kiss him in public instead of giving him a shoulder punch or something slightly more...manly. 

‘Okay, looking into it. Bring him home after school, his stuff will be at our house. Before you ask, yes, Mac and Wallace can come over too. Keep Cassidy away from Dick.’ Was the reply, and Veronica smiled. Her dad was great, even if sometimes he was a little full on. 

She quickly finished her lunch, chatting with Cassidy as she did so and helping him gather up his books. 

\-----------------------------

As the day wore on Veronica was busy writing in her notebook, though it wasn’t notes for the class she was in. It was notes on Cassidy’s past, on his present, on alibis, on reasons he couldn’t have killed everyone the bus. She had notes on Dick’s abuse, and Kendal’s neglect, and his father’s negligence. She had a little history of their friendship; They had started talking when she had noticed how lonely he was, and when he had hired her to help find out what his father was up to. After the bus crash they had grown a lot closer, almost a familial relationship developing in a relatively short period of time. Now she trusted him, and she hoped he trusted her. 

Her cellphone rang in American History class (her last period). The teacher glared, but when Veronica showed her the caller ID-Dad-she was let off the hook. She was sent into the hallway to answer the phone. 

“Hello?” she said, hoping nothing had gone wrong. 

“Honey,” whispered her father’s familiar, soft voice. “we found the bombs and plans and a journal...Richard Casablancas jr. is about to be arrested, get out of the school with Cassidy right now. I’ve called the principal, and he’ll help you guys out.”

Veronica’s hand was shaking...that had moved more quickly than she could have imagined. She was glad for her father’s quick thinking; Of course, Cassidy wouldn’t want to see his brother being arrested. Of course they should leave…

“Yes, sir,” she replied, already moving down the hallway towards Cassidy’s class. She grabbed Wallace out of AP calc, and Mac from Computer Lab on her way, explaining what was going on as they walked. 

Cassidy was in his English lit class, pouring over Wuthering Heights with actual excitement and interest. Veronica spoke in hushed tones with his teacher before he was called to the front and turned over to her. 

“Come on Cas, we need to leave, now,” Veronica ordered, grabbing his hand and dragging him towards her car, tailed by the other two. Cassidy followed, asking questions as they walked. 

“What’s going on?” he asked as she pushed him into the passenger seat, reaching across him and buckling him in despite his protests that he wasn’t a baby. He looked so confused...she almost felt bad for what was about to go down; Almost. 

“They found the bomber,” she said, adding silently ‘they found my rapist’. “It’s Dick.”

\----------------------------

Cassidy was absolutely silent the whole way home, though Veronica could see he was shaking. At the red light she reached across the seat, holding his hand. She was thinking a million thoughts a minute; How was Cassidy going to deal with this? Shouldn’t she have warned Logan? Where would he stay? How was her dad dealing with this? Had he found out about the rape? Even if he hand’t, he surely would soon. Poor Logan...she should have stopped to say something, but he was constantly with Dick; She couldn’t risk it. 

Getting out at her house, Cassidy stumbled out of the car, vomiting onto his own shoes. He was shaking so badly Veronica had to wrap her around around him to ensure that she wouldn’t topple forward into his own sick. She held her back, crying into her shoulder. 

Mac stood beside them, rubbing Cassidy’s back as Wallace stood watching awkwardly. He was never one for comforting...he was more into finding clues and getting the bad guy, not dealing with the consequences the bad guy left in his wake. 

“Come on, Cas,” Veronica whispered, giving him a little squeeze. “We gotta get into the house. It’s not safe out here,” she added, pulling all three of the other’s towards her apartment, letting them in and sitting Cassidy down on the entryway stairs to get his shoes off. 

“He really did it,” Cassidy whispered, his voice shaking. “I thought he was kidding...I thought he was just trying to make me nervous.” He was crying still, his words thick and dripping over each other. He was shaking, his face twisted into an exaggerated expression of pain and sadness. 

“I know, I know,” Veronica replied, hugging him quickly to her. He didn’t let go, and she didn’t either, instead opting to try and pick up the teen, thought he was nearly as tall as she was. He was surprisingly light as he clung to her, and she made it easily to the couch, setting him down and letting him roll into a ball and hug her a little too tightly for comfort. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, hugging him back. Mac as sitting beside her, her classic distraught look playing across her face. Wallace looked like he wanted to be sorry but he couldn’t be; It was little worrying how much he liked seeing the bad guy get what he deserved, Veronica thought, almost laughing. 

“I’m not...He was a bad person,” Cassidy whimpered. “But...Ronnie,” he began, using his brother’s nickname for her. The thought sent shivers up her spine. “I don’t have any family now,” and with that he started to sob again. 

“No, now you have a real family,” Mac said quickly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We’re your family. You gonna be a Mars,” she said, looking at veronica for confirmation. Veronica nodded. Cassidy started to cry harder...It was very clear that this was going to be a very long day. 

\-------------------------

Keith Mars walked into a perfectly quiet house, and his heart immediately skipped a beat. Where were the kids...he’d expected to see at least four people here, maybe five. He put away his things, walking through the house, quietly until he reached the living room where his fears were immediately put to rest. Simpsons was quietly playing on the TV, five people strewn across the room. 

Veronica was sitting on the couch, Logan beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Cassidy was asleep, his head laying on Veronica’s lap. She had her arm resting on his shoulders, a protective movement. Wallace and Mac were both laying on their stomachs on the floor, quietly chatting over the hum of the television. 

“Hey,” Keith whispered, walking in. “I’ve brought his clothes and such…” he said, gesturing towards Cassidy’s sleeping from. “Hi, Logan. I’m sorry about earlier,” he mumbled, nodding. He was referring to the arrest...Logan had been with Dick at the time, in complete shock and denial. 

Logan nodded, not looking Keith in the eye. He knew he had done the right thing, but he wasn’t ready to accept it quite yet. Keith respected that. “Thanks,” he mumbled. 

“Hi Mr. Mars,” two voices chimed from the floor, two faces looking up at him. He smiled...he liked Wallace and Mac. They were good kids.

Only one person was missing from the usual gang…”Where’s Eli?” he asked, sitting down on the floor, back against the couch. He joints groaned; He wasn’t as young as he used to be and he was beginning to feel it. Maybe he wasn’t the healthiest anymore, sure, but he still felt older than he was. 

“He’s at work,” Veronica informed Keith, smiling softly. It made her feel warm inside just to think of the turn around Eli had made over the last year. He had a steady afterschool job, good grades, he would be graduating with everyone else later that year. “He’s been doing well lately,” she said, smiling softly, absentmindedly brushing the hair out of Cassidy’s face. 

Keith smiled; It was true, then. Things were starting to look up on all sides. Cassidy was safe (Keith had grown attached to the young teen over the last few months that Veronica had known him), Logan was away from the influence of Dick and was obviously in love with his daughter (Keith didn’t know weather to be happy or not about that), Wallace and Mac were both very good friends to the family...Things were looking up. Even Eli, who Keith had always objected to be with Veronica because of his rep, was pulling himself together. 

\-----------------------

Cassidy now slept in Veronica’s room, a trundle pulled out from underneath her bed. His stuff was mixed in with her’s around the room, it’s usual messiness supplemented with odd blank areas were Cassidy had lost it and cleaned up. 

When he woke up screaming Veronica would get down beside him, sleeping with him, her arms wrapped around his skinny shoulders. He would whisper his worries to her, telling her what his dreams were. Eventually he had told her his whole story; His whole childhood, everything Dick had done or said he’d done, all the secrets he had kept from his father, his fears...his aspirations. 

She wrote it all down in her notebook, eventually turning it to the lawyer who was trying to put Cassidy into the Mars’ full, and permanent custody. It contained what she thought had to be proof that he should be removed and placed in their custody. 

She appeared to be right when only a week later her father was signing papers, Cassidy being placed under his fathership. Her notebook was cited as proof that they were a capable, and loving family. 

\----------------------

Veronica found out about the molestation during the investigation into Mayor Woody with her father. She found the recordings that had been made, Dick’s voice in the background telling them not to come out with the story or he’d make them pay. 

She released that’s why he’d sunk the bus, but he hadn’t been able to find a reason to not take Cassidy with him in the limo...so he pretended to want to take him with him and his friends in the limo. He had found other ways to keep Cassidy quiet…

Veronica drove home while the Mayor was being arrested, and without saying anything, gathered Cassidy into her arms and began to cry, holding him tightly. She knew the feeling of not telling any body, or hurting, and being scared and embarrassed and lonely. 

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” She asked softly, after they had both calmed down. They were sitting cross legged on the couch, the sound of some TV show playing as background noise beside them. It was a stupid question, knowing the Casablancas. 

“I didn’t w-want them to think I w-was weak,” he whimpered, pulling his knees to his chest. “I didn’t want to get in trouble.” 

Veronica’s heart was breaking as he spoke, and she hugged him tightly to her once again, whispering anything she could think of to make herself-and Cassidy-feel better. 

\-----------------------

“Veronica, can I tell you something? Important?” Cassidy asked after dinner one day. He was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor, surrounded in abandoned textbooks. Veronica never understood why he studied so much...he was already well above average. She didn’t know it was his way of coping; When he was studying he didn’t have to think about anything else at all, just what was right in front of him. 

“Yeah, of course. What’s the matter, hon?” Veronica asked, putting down her bag filled with her university text books and her criminology class project. She pushed her blond hair out of her face, sitting down beside Cassidy and wrapping her arm around his shoulders, slightly broader now. 

“I wanna tell you something, but...you won’t be mad, right?” he asked, his old shy and self conscious self making an appearance; Veronica hadn’t seen this side of him in a while, after he had become comfortable with being safe. Was someone threatening him? 

Veronica hugged him a little more tightly, pressing her face into his hair. 

“Is someone hurting you, Cassie?” she asked him quietly, though there was iron under her soft tone. If someone was hurting him there would be hell to pay...blood would run. Cassidy twitched nervously; She could feel him taking deep breaths. 

“No, no one’s hurting me, Ronnie...I just wanted to tell you that I have a boyfriend and I was gonna bring him home but I wasn’t sure...if that’d be okay with you and Keith,” he whispered, looking down at his hands. Veronica wasn’t thinking about it much, momentarily noticing that her dad was still ‘Keith’ to Cassidy, and then the news caught up to her. Her world suddenly felt much, much bigger. 

“Of course! Of course we want to meet him!” she gushed, giving Cassidy a little squeeze and then pulling away and giving him a radiant smile, only to find he was crying. “Wh-what’s wrong?” she asked, her tone dropping again, tilting his head up to look at her. 

“I-I was just scared and now I’m so relieved, and I-I’m j-just crying,” Cassidy mumbled, laughing a little through his tears. Of course, she thought, the Casablancas weren’t like the Mars family. They looked down on boys like Cas...Of course he was scared. She hugged him again, pulling him to his feet after her. 

“Come on, we’re gonna call him right now to come for dinner,” she told him, smiling a little now. “I’ll get Logan to come and we’ll have a big family dinner. Okay?” She raised one of her blond eyebrows, pushing him a little. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Okay.” 

\--------------------

“You’re an uncle!” Logan squealed into the phone, causing Cassidy to have to move the phone away from his head so as not to burst an eardrum. “Cassidy? Cassidy, you there?” Logan said, “You there?!” 

Cassidy was dumbstruck, his mouth agape. He looked across the room at his boyfriend before bursting into tears. 

“Yes, yes I’m here...I’m an uncle...oh my god!”

**Author's Note:**

> Please review and tell me what you think! I'd love to converse with y'all.


End file.
